Making A Difference Daily

Todays Reading – 1 Kings 20 & 21

Ahab was probably the worst king in Israel’s history.  He tolerated all kinds of immorality and idolatry in his kingdom and even promoted it.  He married a woman (Jezebel) whose name has become synonomous with wickedness.   Together, Ahab and Jezebel were responsible for the slaughter of many of the prophets of the Lord in Israel.  These were bad people. Ahab was a bad man and an even worse king.

Notice, however, in the last part of chapter 21.  Ahab humbled himself before the Lord.  Now don’t misunderstand, this was not a complete turnaround.  He didn’t surrender to go to the mission field or anything like that; but he did humble himself before the Lord; and as a result, God spared him some of the judgment that he had planned for him.  Apparently, a little humility went a long way for Ahab.

I don’t think there are too many people reading this that are as wicked as old King Ahab; but it would do us well to follow his example in just this one instance.  Let’s kill some of the pride in our lives and humble ourselves before the Lord.  Let’s surrender to Him and submit ourselves to His will for our lives.  Let’s allow him to correct us when necessary.  It may just be that a little humility before the Lord will go a long way in our lives as well.

Today’s Reading – 1 Kings 18 & 19

Notice in 1 Kings 18:17

Why do we get upset with the mailman who delivers the bills?  Why do we get mad at the teacher or preacher who delivers to us the Word of God?  Sometimes I fee like Paul when he said, Am I therefore become your enemy, because I tell you the truth? 

The blame for Israel’s problems lay primarily at the feet of Israel’s leader, King Ahab.  He had completely forsaken God: he married a woman who hated God and even slaughtered God’s prophets.  The solution to the problem was not killing Elijah; but Ahab’s turning back to God. 

Through the years, I’ve known many people who have gotten away from God and as a result their lives go downhill: sometimes physically, sometimes financially, sometimes in other ways.  Often these folks get mad at the church or the preacher: anything but look within.  

I have come to a conclusion in my life:  my problems are caused by me.  If things are going wrong in my family, I don’t blame the church, the government, my neighbors, or anybody else:  I blame the guy I see in the mirror in the morning and I go to God for help in getting the mess cleaned up.  

Today’s Reading – 1 Kings 16 – 17 

There is a great lesson to be learned from the widow of Zarephath here in chapter 17.  She was living in one of the toughest times in the history of Israel.  The land was experiencing a severe drought that was to last three years.  When she came to the end of her oil and flour and was about to make the last meal of bread, along comes the man of God asking her to give it to him.  It goes against every natural human feeling to put somebody else first before yourself and the needs of your family; but this widow woman trusted the man of God who told her that if she would do as he said, she would never run out of food.  She listened, and for three years, during one of the worst famines in Israel’s history, God fed her and her son; and the prophet of God. 

We have similar promises in the New Testament: 

But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you. (Matthew 6:33) 

Give, and it shall be given unto you; good measure, pressed down, and shaken together, and running over, shall men give into your bosom. For with the same measure that ye mete withal it shall be measured to you again. (Luke 6:38) 

I have observed something over the past few years during our econoomic downturn.  Some people have kept right on serving God; they have kept putting him first.  They have not cut back on their giving; they have not cut back on their serving; and God has continued to bless their families in remarkable ways.  You wouldn’t think that we were in a recession by their lives; they are doing well with the blessing of God. 

However, I have also noticed the converse.  I have seen people lose faith, and begin to lean unto their own understanding, and stop trusting in God to take care of them.  They begin to put themselves first (which is a natural thing to do); but as a result, they lose the supernatural blessing of God and their situation gets worse. 

If you are going through tough times, don’t bite the hand that feeds you.  Have you been faithful to give back to God a portion of what He has blessed you with?  Trust God:  He will take care of you. 

Today’s Reading – 1 Kings 13 – 15

My attention this morning is drawn to chapter thirteen and the account of the prophet that was sent from the southern kingdom of Judah with a message for Jeroboam, the king of the northern kingdom, Israel.  He was sent with a message of judgment to Jeroboam:

And he cried against the altar in the word of the LORD, and said, O altar, altar, thus saith the LORD; Behold, a child shall be born unto the house of David, Josiah by name; and upon thee shall he offer the priests of the high places that burn incense upon thee, and men’s bones shall be burnt upon thee. And he gave a sign the same day, saying, This is the sign which the LORD hath spoken; Behold, the altar shall be rent, and the ashes that are upon it shall be poured out. (1 Kings 13:2 & 3)

At the end of this unpleasant meeting with Jeroboam, this un-named prophet is asked to go back with Jeroboam to get something to eat and to receive a reward.  The prophet flatly refuses to go with Jeroboam because he was given strict instructions by God not to eat in Israel.  On the way home, however, another man claiming to be a prophet asks him to go with him and get something to eat.  This man lies to him and tells him that God told him that it was OK.  As a result, the prophet from Judah goes with him; but soon discovers that he was tricked into disobeying the clear commandment of God; and it cost him his life.

Christian, you and I need to be careful who we listen to.  Sometimes people pretending to represent God will come to us and try to get us to do things that are clearly against the plain teaching of the Word of God.  We are to trust the Bible; and we can trust the men and women that preach and teach the Bible correctly; but the Bible itself is always the final authority.  Be careful who you trust.

Todays Reading – 1 Kings 10 – 12

How did Israel get from being on top of the world in capter ten to a divided nation in chapter 12?  In chapter ten we have Solomon at the very peak of his reign as king of all of Israel.  The Bible tells us that he has an enormous amount of wealth ($ 1 Bil in annual gold income per year alone); he has under his belt a great deal of accomplishments (the Temple, his house, and several cities built); and he has a kingdom full of happy, contented people.  What could go wrong?

Chapter eleven gives us the answer.  Look at verse 4:

For it came to pass, when Solomon was old, that his wives turned away his heart after other gods: and his heart was not perfect with the LORD his God, as was the heart of David his father.

Pastor Charlie Horton has always said that there are three things that will destroy a preacher: liberalism; lucre (money); and ladies.  I quess that applies here to Solomon.  The wisest man who ever lived allowed his lust for women to lure him out of the will of God; and remember it was God who gave him the wisdom; and it is God who took the wisdom away.  Solomon at the end of his life begins to do some dumb things.  He begins to worship the gods of the heathen; and he even allows their idols to be set up in Jerusalem.

In chapter twelve we see the kingdom being passed down to Solomon’s son Reheboam; and here we learn that the people were no longer too happy with Solomon at the end of his reign.  They felt that Solomon was too demanding of a ruler; and now they are asking his son, Reheboam, to relieve some of their burden, which he refuses to do (an indication that he wasn’t very wise either).  As a result, all of the tribes of Israel, save Judah, declare their independence from Reheboam’s kingdom. 

So, in a few short years, Solomon and his family go from “having it all” to having very little.  All because he allowed his love for women to pull him away from his love for God.  What is pulling you away from the will of God?  Is it lust?; greed?; power?; laziness?  Whatever it is, you’d better remove it before it is too late.

Praise the Lord for the great day that we had yesterday here at the church.  We had a full house both Sunday morning and Sunday evening with two men baptized at the evening service.  Pray for Brian Lara and Ernest Prempeh as they grow and serve the Lord.  

Today’s Reading – 2 Kings 4 – 6  

Judah and Israel were many, as the sand which is by the sea in multitude, eating and drinking, and making merry. (1 Kings 4:20) 

 And Judah and Israel dwelt safely, every man under his vine and under his fig tree, from Dan even to Beersheba, all the days of Solomon. (1 Kings 4:25) 

This is about as close to heaven as you could possibly get while still living here on the earth.  Notice that Israel had the complete protection of God; and the abundant provision of God.  And in these early days of Solomon’s reign the people were busy serving God by building His temple, which took about seven years to complete.  So it seems that God is on His throne and the people are dwelling safely.  It sort of reminds me of the history of America.  We had to fight some battles in the early days; but God eventually gave us abundant provision and protection from our enemies.  We are still the most blessed nation in the world. 

Unfortunately, we will see in the upcoming chronicles of Israel’s history that all of this prosperity, which was given by God, will eventually cause the people to forget about God.  I think we can safely say that America is in the same boat.  The people in this “land of the free” have forgotten that it was God who gave them their freedom and all of the prosperity that comes with it.   

Sunday Afternoon

I am praising the Lord for a great service this morning.  The church was full; the spirit was good; and I felt extraordinary liberty to preach the Word of God.  Many people came to the altar and one man received Christ as his Saviour.  We are looking forward to a great service tonight.  We have four people scheduled to be baptized at the close of the service.  I am starting a new series tonight entitled, “Why I Am A Baptist”.  Sometimes when I reflect on what God had done and is doing, I am overwhelmed by his goodness in using someone like me in His ministry.  Praise the Lord for His mercy and his grace!

Todays Reading – 1 Kings 1 – 3

This morning I preached from 1 Kings 3 about the wisdom of Solomon; but I would also like to express just another thought from chapter 1 of 1 Kings.  As you read the passage, notice how Adonijah, Abiathar the priest, Joab, and many others ignore the will of God and the wishes of the king (David) when they take it upon themselves to annoint Adonijah as the king.  It never ceases to amaze me how God’s people will resort to worldly and carnal means to get their way.  

Christian, you and I only have to look to God in order to accomplish His will.  Anything that is done in the flesh will surely come to nought.  Let’s find out what God has for our lives: whether it be a prominent, public position; or a spot behind the scenes where nobody but God sees us.  Oh that we would see that God is the only one that we have to impress with our lives. 

Praise the Lord for our softball team.  They played their first game against Bethel Baptist Church on Friday night.  They lost the game (14 – 10), but they did great for their first game.  More importantly they maintained a great Christian testimony.  Their next game is next Friday night at 6:30 at Solid Rock Baptist Church in Berlin.  Come out and support our team.

We are looking forward to a great weekend of ministry.  Today, we gathered for prayer at 6:00 AM.  Later on we will be going out: some will knock doors, and some will visit folks trying to encourage them to come out to church tomorrow.  Please pray that God will breathe today and tomorrow upon this area and the area around the chapel in Little Egg Harbor.  Pray for both churches  to be filled tomorrow.  Pray for lives to be changed; and souls to be saved.  Also pray for a place for the chapel to meet after May 30th.

Todays Reading – 2 Samuel 22 – 24

And David was then in an hold, and the garrison of the Philistines was then in Bethlehem. And David longed, and said, Oh that one would give me drink of the water of the well of Bethlehem, which is by the gate! And the three mighty men brake through the host of the Philistines, and drew water out of the well of Bethlehem, that was by the gate, and took it, and brought it to David: nevertheless he would not drink thereof, but poured it out unto the LORD. And he said, Be it far from me, O LORD, that I should do this: is not this the blood of the men that went in jeopardy of their lives? therefore he would not drink it. These things did these three mighty men.

(2 Samuel 23:14 – 17)

I bet you David regretted making the request for water.  I don’t think he really intended to state it audibly.  He was probably doing what we sometimes call, “thinking out loud”.   Leaders, you especially need to be careful about what you say publically, because there are people around you that will give their lives trying to please you, and give you the things that you desire.  It may not be what you really want for them to do.

We also need to be careful about what we say, because people sometimes repeat it; and it may not be something that should be repeated.  I have often said things in the presence of people that was mis-represented later on.  I have also thought out loud about an idea and the next thing I know the idea became something that was “etched in stone”.  Leaders, be careful that you clearly think about what you say; and also think about the people who are in your presence when you say it.

Todays Reading – 2 Samuel 19 – 21

Then there was a famine in the days of David three years, year after year; and David enquired of the LORD. And the LORD answered, It is for Saul, and for his bloody house, because he slew the Gibeonites. (2 Samuel 21:1)

Remember back in 1 Samuel when King Saul was mad at the priests because they had helped David. (See 1 Samuel 21 & 22) Saul ended up killing all of the priests (85 of them) and then proceeded to wipe out Nob, the city that the priests lived in.  What Saul did to the priests and to their families was bad enough; but there was also a group of people who lived in Nob as servants to the priests who were not Israelites:  they were Gibeonites.  Now you may also remember from the book of Joshua that the Gibeonites were the people who tricked Joshua into making a covenant with them.  Joshua promised these people with an oath that Israel would let them live, and in return the Gibeonites would be Israel’s servants.  God never forgot that covenant, so when Saul (acting on behalf of Israel) broke the covenant and slew the Gibeonites living in Nob; God held them (Israel – not just Saul) accountable.  God doesn’t forget, even when we want to.  Here an entire nation is suffering for the decision of one man. 

We should be admonished when we read passages like this.  First of all, we should realize that our actions affect more people than we think; and we should carefully consider the outcome on others around us from the decisions we make  today as well as the impact they will have on future generations.  Secondly, we need to think about any unfinished business we may have with God or other people.  We are so quick to promise things; but so slow to deliver the things that we promise.  God never forgot the promise that Israel made with the Gibeonites.

Note – A separate thought from this passage of Scripture.  Notice in 21:8 that five of  the “sons of Saul” (actually grandsons) that were to be killed were the sons of Michal, David’s first wife.  Michal had lived a troubled life due to men who have used her for their own gain.  Saul promised her to David and reluctantly gives her to be his wife; later Saul took her back and gave her to another man; After Sauls death when David is in power he takes her back, away from a man that loves her;  and now here she is losing  her sons.